(57/229) 1946-00-00-b.jpg

Claude Schmidt college graduation, 1946.

56: Claude Schmidt on the family farm with a sheep, about 1946.
55: Alfred Schmidt in his World War I uniform alongside son Claude in his Navy cadet uniform, about 1945.
54: Alfred Schmidt models his World War I Army uniform alongside his son Ruben in his World War II uniform, about 1944.
53: Claude Schmidt in Navy cadet uniform in 1944 at age 19.
52: Claude Schmidt in Navy cadet uniform, circa 1944.
51: Claude Schmidt and dog Mickey on the family farm, about 1944. Claude is wearing his Navy midshipman's uniform because he was enrolled in the Navy's V-12 program for pre-med students.
50: Claude Schmidt worked the family farm in 1943 with these horses. The "chicken barn" is in the background.
49: Alfred Schmidt family circa 1943, when oldest son Ruben was called into military service in World War II. Left-to-right are Irmgard (née Ruhbusch), Claude, Alfred, and Ruben.
48: Claude Schmidt took off his sophomore year of college in 1943 to return home to work the farm for his father Alfred, who had nearly died from a burst appendix the year before and was unable to handle all the farm chores. Working the family farm also gave Claude a deferment from the draft which followed the Pearl Harbor attack and the US's entry into World War II, which being a pre-med college student probably would not have.
47: Claude Schmidt's high-school graduation photo, 1941. He was 16 years old.